Patriots Teach Andrew Luck Hard Lesson

Welcome to November in the NFL Andrew Luck. The New England Patriots taught the rookie quarterback that this league is not as easy as he is making it look at times. The Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady play in these big games all the time. They know how to get it done in big games. Luck and most of his teammates had no idea about these types of games. Now they have some idea. This will be a memorable lesson for them, one that will make them a better team next time they face this type of test.

The Patriots offense was unstoppable as they scored at will all day long on the young Colts in a 59-24 rout. They also taught Luck about throwing the ball where he shouldn’t as Alfonso Dennard picked off one of his passes and ran it back 7 yards for a touchdown. It was one of three picks by the Patriots defense on the day.

Brady was 24 of 35 for 331 yards, only three yards fewer than Luck passed for in 50 attempts. He had no interceptions to go with his three touchdowns. The Patriots are now 7-3 and the Colts are now 6-4. Indianapolis is still one of the AFC Wild Cards, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers and a game ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals. The Patriots are now three games up in the AFC East over the 4-6 New York Jets, winners on Sunday over the St Louis Rams 27-13, and the 4-6 Miami Dolphins, who lost to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night.

The Patriots will be on the road to face the Jets on Thanksgiving night and then will be in Miami the following week. The Colts face the division leader Houston Texans twice in the last three weekends. They trail the Texans by two games, so they need to keep pace until then. They have a home game with the Bills next week and then will face the Detroit Lions on the road the following week.

”The coaches want us to play aggressive,” said Dennard, whose touchdown made it 45-17. ”So that’s what I was doing out there.”